“Now the word of the LORD came to Jonah the second time, saying, “Arise, go to Nineveh the great city and proclaim to it the proclamation which I am going to tell you.” Jonah 3:1-2

True repentance begins with recognizing one’s sin and asking forgiveness. But it doesn’t stop there; repentance also means turning away from your sin. In life, you either have your back to God, facing sin or your back to sin, facing God. Repentance is the beginning of facing God and walking towards Him every day thereafter.

After Jonah’s confession of his sin against God, Jonah was now once again with his face in the right direction. But he had a choice to make when the word of the Lord came to him once again with the same call to go to Nineveh.

The fact is that God’s Will will always be done!  God has a plan and His plan will always come to be, regardless of how we choose to act. God doesn’t need any of us to accomplish His plan; let’s not think too highly of ourselves! But we His followers have the great privilege to partake in God’s plan, if we choose. The question is whether or not we will obey.

After Jonah’s experience, he was now faced with the same initial challenge; the call was the same call, the city was the same city, the fears and concerns may have been the same fears and concerns. However, Jonah was a changed man. Jonah now had a greater fear –reverence –of the One he believed in; he now understood that God’s Will would be done.

“What is God calling me to do? Where is He calling me to go? What is He calling me to say? Am I going to do it?”

I believe that these are some very basic questions that each of us must ask our self on a daily basis. We often times find all kinds of poor excuses for our disobedience, one of the most common being “It’s not wise”. I believe that the root issue here is the fact that we don’t have a healthy fear of our Lord; we choose to ignore Yeshua’s warning to us:

“And do not fear those who kill the body, but are unable to kill the soul; but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.” Matt 10:28

I am not here to condemn, my dear brothers and sisters.  I simply have a heavy heart to speak the Lord’s truth, even if only one person listens. If the Lord has been speaking to you, it is not too late! May I encourage you to make up your mind to repent today, to turn your back to sin and your face to God, and step up to the fullness of God’s call on your life. There is no more exciting and peaceful place to be!

Shabbat Shalom,

Moran